Both the Arai clear and gold shields have no distortion at all. If they're clean you can hardly tell there's a shield there. I can drive into the sunset on a September Texas evening and not squint with the gold shield but it can be used at night if you have to even though the shield says not to. The only thing I don't like about the gold shield is when I driving in the early morning or evening and the sun is coming in from the side there's a strong reflection of your face on the shield and sometimes it's hard to see through it. I would have expected that for the money you pay for this shield that Arai would have put some kind of anti-glare coating on it.

The Arai shields have great optical quality. When it's nice and clean you can't even tell its there. I don't like wearing sunglasses under my helmet so I rock the dark smoke shield during the day and it works great. I can ride into a low sun and it works just as well as sunglasses under a clear shield.I rode with it once at night, but it's a little sketchy and I don't recommend it, especially if the street isn't well lit. I carry a pair of clear safety glasses on the bike so if I get caught unexpectedly out after dark I just put those on and ride with the shield up.Gloss black helmets with dark smoke shields look boss.

I felt I needed a tinted shade after unsuccessfully using a clear shade with sunglasses in cooler weather. Both the shield and glasses would fog and I wanted to be able to wear my regular eyeglasses on sunny days. My only gripe is that changing the face shields from clear to tint (or whichever you choose) isn't as easy as Arai shows in their online videos. You'll likely crack the shield if you force it. It takes a bit of practice to make it jive.

PROS: Attractive coupon price, Can be used in low light, Works great for full sun

I wanted this faceshield to replace the clear faceshield that was on my Arai Quantum/f. I was a little surprised by the price, but decided to get it anyway, because I really wanted the tinted one. The gear specialist took about 15 minutes to put the shield in, because of a poor fit. After many trys and a lot of faceshield lube, he finally got it on. I have not yet attempted to take it out and put the clear one back on, but I'm hoping it will go better than the first time. Overall, I am happy with the product.